7. Illiteracy Must Be Addressed by Skills Development Leave

There are an estimated one million Canadians who cannot read or write. Another four million are functionally illiterate in that they cannot read, write or do mathematics at a level necessary to function adequately in society, and the majority are women. The rate of unemployment and occupational accidents among this group is particularly high.26

8. Paid Skills Development Leave Will Assist Native and Immigrant Women

A system of Paid Skills Development Leave which focuses on the least advantage of our population (among this group are native and immigrant women) will positively aid their integration into the workforce.

9. Special Measures are Needed to Achieve Equality in Working Life

"Like so many other social programs, paid educational leave may aid least the ones for whom it was intended unless active, positive measures are taken," says the OECD. "It is a well-known fact that, in matters involving training, if free rein is given to natural mechanisms, the only result can be increasing inequality."27 Well-educated people are very familiar and comfortable with the processes and benefits of further education. The less well educated will fail to achieve the advantages offered by Paid Skills Development Leave unless support mechanisms are an integral part of the whole program.

Finally, in relation to barriers to Skills Development, these principles, which encompass the personal and economic value of a creative and productive working life, the aim of equity, literacy and the needs of natives and immigrants, all support our belief that there is an urgent and immediate demand for legislated Paid Skills Development Leave. Positive, active measures toward affirmative action will truly make these educational resources accessible to women who have, all their lives, experienced discrimination in education, training and employment.